The Easiest, Yummiest Baked Oatmeal

Most of us are heading into a 3-day weekend that will quite possibly be filled with houseguests. When I have a house full of family, I always want to make something special for breakfast but can rarely find the time to get things prepared before everyone has given in to hunger. Now, I have baked oatmeal!

I came across a recipe by Anna Stockwell at Epicurious that is super easy and versatile. You only need to make this baked oatmeal once to get the hang of the proportions. After that, the sky's the limit. You can add in whatever ingredients you want and make it in no time. My favorite thing about this dish is that it tastes better on the second and third days. So, you can prepare it on Friday night and enjoy it Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings. All you have to do is reheat your slice in the microwave for about 30 seconds. I will confess, I like it so much I don’t just have it for breakfast. Sometimes I also have it for dessert!

The basic recipe is: “one part dry ingredients, one part wet ingredients, one egg, one quarter part sweetener, and one part fruit.” And you need about ¼ cups of dry oats per person.

The dry mix needs to be at least ¾ part oats (and they need to be steel-cut or rolled oats--no instant oats). The other part can be nuts, seeds, or coconut flakes.

The wet mix should be the same amount as the dry mix. The main ingredient is milk of any kind or juice, if you prefer. Stockwell recommends adding something rich to the wet mix. So, add some melted butter, olive oil or coconut oil to your liquid base. The sweetener can be any kind as well: maple syrup, honey, agave or regular sugar. If you use regular sugar, whisk it into the wet mix. The fruit can be frozen or fresh. The egg should be added to wet mix. Combine it all in a baking dish that has been brushed with butter or oil and place in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until the top is golden.

One of my favorite mixes is frozen raspberries with pumpkin seeds (I would use nuts if my son weren’t allergic). I also really like this recipe with frozen blueberries.The other day I made it with chocolate chips and shredded coconut and loved it! Here is that recipe:

Chocolate Macaroon Baked Oatmeal

¾ cup of rolled oats

¼ cup of shredded coconut

¼ cup of chocolate chips

¼ cup of pumpkin seeds (these don’t really add taste, but they provide texture and make the dish more filling. If my son weren’t allergic to nuts, I would add pecans to this mix instead.)

1 and ⅛ cups of coconut milk

⅛ cups of olive oil

¼ maple syrup (whisked into the wet mix)

1 banana (according to Anna Stockwell, I should have added more fruit, but I like the way it turned out)

1 egg (whisked into the wet mix)

I poured the wet mix into the dry mix, layered my baking dish (after oiling it) with sliced bananas, poured my combined mixture on top, and placed it in the oven at 350 degrees. 45 minutes later, I had a beautifully golden baked oatmeal!